Three stakes races on Saturday and two more Sunday make for a super and spooky Halloween weekend of racing at Woodbine.
The premier race for Canadian-bred 2-year-olds, the $250,000 CORONATION FUTURITY, edition 118, headlines the weekend action which also includes the Grade 3 Ontario Derby on Sunday.
The Coronation Futurity, a big test for babies at 1 1/8 miles on Tapeta, tends to produce the early favourite for the next year’s Queen’s Plate but as most know, the Plate has not been won by a Coronation winner since 1975.
Eight of the 14 colts and geldings entered in this year’s Coronation are winners and one fellow, Lament, was supplemented to the race at a cost of $5,000.
The majority of the entrants are coming out of grass races, in particular, the important Cup & Saucer on October 10 which was run on extremely soft turf. The winner of that race was the flashy chestnut colt GOD OF LOVE, owned by Gary Barber and Eclipse Thoroughbreds. Despite breaking slowly, God of Love and Rafael Hernandez came from far back and slogged their way to a 1 3/4 length win over stablemate FAST FEET, the front-runner and another Coronation entrant. God of Love is from the first crop of the Tapit stallion Cupid and he was bred by the late Bill Graham.
How the horses from the Cup & Saucer handle the switch back to Tapeta is the biggest question and since most of the 14 entrants have Beyer Figures in the 60s – the race’s top Beyer of 69 was earned by RUM CUP a maiden owned by Minshall Farms from a maiden race on Oct. 10 – the race is very wide open.
While God of Love is the probable favourite since he beat six of these guys in the Cup & Saucer, there are many win contenders.
STRONGER TOGETHER, a chestnut son of Liam’s Map, has had two rocky journeys to begin his career. Bred by Jim Dandy Stable and owned by Jim Lawson’s Spruce Park Stable, the colt’s most recent effort came in the Cup & Saucer Stakes on October 10 at Woodbine.
With Justin Stein in the saddle, Stronger Together stumbled at the start of the 1 1/16-mile turf event, bobbled down the backstretch and then was able to regroup and finish third, 2 ¾-lengths behind God of Love.
One race prior, the chestnut, steadied at the start of the 1 mile and 70-yard Tapeta race, then ninth and 12 lengths behind the leader at the half-mile junction, rallied to net the show award, only a neck behind the winner, Shamateur, at the wire.
“This is a very nice horse,” said trainer Sid Attard. “I thought he has run two very good races. He’s doing very well coming into this race and hopefully he builds off those first two starts and has a big race.”
Dan Vella, in search of his first Coronation Futurity crown, will send out THE MINKSTER. The bay son of English Channel impressed in his career bow on October 2, a 6 ½-furlong sprint over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course.
Under David Moran, who will be in the irons again on Saturday, The Minkster, at 5-1, broke inward and bumped with a rival, but recovered to hold a slim lead along the backstretch. After forcing the pace from the rail on the turn, the colt took the lead in the stretch, widened his advantage down the lane and coasted home a 6 ¼-length winner.
The final time over good ground was 1:17.19.
“I was expecting a really big effort,” said Vella. “You never quite expect it to be that easy. That win was even easier than it looks on paper. He was pretty much geared down and ran green, but he’s a very talented horse. I don’t know what the limit is on him. I don’t know if there is one. When they came back, David said that he still had a lot of horse. He said, ‘Wait until he figures out how to run in a straight line.’”
Bred by Dr. Tan Hyka and owned by Sea Glass Stables LLC, The Minkster will now tackle a series of firsts, including two turns and a run over the Tapeta.
Vella, a lifetime winner of 858 races, is confident his juvenile, a $52,000 yearling purchase at the 2020 CTHS Ontario Sale, can handle the assignment.
“I couldn’t ask him to get ready any better. He’s very happy with the time between races. He’s not a really big horse. He’s very athletic, but he’s not a giant. I was very happy to have the four weeks to get him ready to where I want him. We’re ready and we’re excited.
“I’ve had a few English Channels and they are late to mature mentally and physically. He matured a lot from that race, but he has a lot more to do. Very few English Channels reach their peak in the first race of their life. They get nothing but better with age and racing. He’s got some learning to do yet, but he can run.”
Sam-Son farms’ DANCIN IN D’NILE is cross-entered in the Coronation and Display Stakes.
The Display, at seven furlongs, has lured double stakes-winning juvenile IRONSTONE and fast maiden winner HICKSY.
And the Glorious Song Stakes has a fascinating group of juvenile fillies including Presque Isle Debutante Stakes winner HOWDYOUMAKEURMONEY (Freud) and Shady Well Stakes winner MARIE MACKAY.
$250,000 CORONATION FUTURITY
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – J M R Best of Turf – Christopher Husbands – Steven Chircop
2 – Brutality – Daisuke Fukumoto – Michael De Paulo
3 – Dancin in Da’nile – Shaun Bridgmohan – Gail Cox
4 – Shamateur – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Michael Doyle
5 – Laraque – Eswan Flores – Kevin Attard
6 – God of Love – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse
7 – Mad Mocha – Sahin Civaci – Stuart Simon
8 – Kiddie Holiday – Antonio Gallardo – Kevin Attard
9 – The Minkster – David Moran – Dan Vella
10 – Fast Feet – Kazushi Kimura – Mark Casse
11 – Rum Cup – Patrick Husbands – Barbara Minshall
12 – Lament (S) – Gary Boulanger – Mark Casse
13 – Stronger Together – Justin Stein – Sid Attard
14 – Hidden Honor – Luis Contreras – Kevin Attard
$125,000 DISPLAY
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Ironstone – Ademar Santos – Willie Armata
2 – Heat Merchant – Gary Boulanger – Ralph Biamonte
3 – Optigogo – Kazushi Kimura – Eoin Harty
4 – Souper Legacy (S) – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse
5 – Hicksy – Antonio Gallardo – Kevin Attard
6 – Twenty Four Mamba – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse
7 – Dancin in Da’nile – Shaun Bridgmohan – Gail Cox
$125,000 GLORIOUS SONG
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Aubrieta – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse
2 – Chocolateaddiction – Luis Contreras – Josie Carroll
3 – Elegant Joy – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Eoin Harty
4 – Howdyoumakeurmoney – Antonio Gallardo – Michael Trombetta
5 – Fulminate – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse
6 – Fifth Anniversary – Keveh Nicholls – Ricky Griffith
7 – Skylerville – Kazushi Kimura – Jonathan Thomas
8 – Marie MacKay – Justin Stein – Dan Vella
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